Story Ideas for Media 5/22/06

News

New center for mathematics, science education policy announced ? If the United States continues to educate people in science and engineering at its current pace, the country will have a shortage of 12 million prepared workers by 2020, according to the National Science Foundation.
Addressing the country's global competitiveness and its clear link to math and science education, Ohio State President Karen A. Holbrook and Battelle President and CEO Carl F. Kohrt have announced the formation of the Battelle Center for Mathematics and Science Education Policy to be housed at Ohio State's John Glenn School of Public Affairs.
A $4 million gift from Battelle will establish the center, one of the few of its kind in the country. The university will initiate a national search for a director with unique experiences who will work in the John Glenn School to leverage expertise and resources from across Ohio State, Battelle and the country. CONTACT: Shelly Hoffman, Ohio State; or Mark Berry, Battelle, (614) 247-4748 or (614) 424-5544.

Experts

Ohio State experts on immigration and migration. As the immigration debate gathers momentum, Ohio State University experts can address these aspects of the topic.
?Mexican-U.S. immigration and migration, militarization of the borders and proposed guest worker legislation ? Jeffrey Cohen, associate professor of anthropology, is author of The Culture of Migration in Southern Mexico and makes presentations all over the country on these issues. CONTACT: Jeffrey Cohen, College of Social and Behavioral Sciences, (614) 247-7872, cohen.319@osu.edu
?Designing programs for employers of Mexican workers ? With migrant agricultural labor continuing to increase in Ohio, especially in the nursery/landscape and livestock industries, Ohio State University Extension educators are working to design programs to assist employers of Mexican workers to effectively communicate and work with their new employees. A group of OSU Extension faculty recently traveled to Mexico to study first-hand why small farmers migrate to Ohio, their strong cultural and social ties to their families and communities back in Mexico, and the objectives they pursue when they leave their families behind. CONTACT: Francisco Espinoza, OSU Extension's Agricultural Business Enhancement Center, Wooster, (419) 354-6916, or espinoza.9@osu.edu; or Claudio Pasian, Horticulture and Crop Science, (614) 292-9941, or pasian.1@osu.edu.

Research

Workers get paid more when they work for powerful CEOs ? For workers at publicly held companies, it literally pays to have a very powerful boss. A new study found that entrenched CEOs ? those who have more control rights in their company than all other shareholders combined ? pay their workers about 6 percent more than do other managers. That equals about $2,200 in higher wages per year for these employees. "Entrenched CEOs give higher pay, not only to themselves, but also to the firm's other employees, such as its janitors or engineers," said Henrick Cronqvist, co-author of the study and assistant professor of finance at Ohio State University's Fisher College of Business. But CEOs who have a larger financial stake in their companies ? those who own more stock ? actually pay their employees less than do managers who don't own as large a share of the company, the study found. CONTACT: Henrik Cronqvist, (614) 292-0280, henrik.cronqvist@cob.osu.edu SEE: http://researchnews.osu.edu/archive/ceowage.htm

Events

Student engineers unveil vehicle to beat high fuel prices ? May 24. Rising fuel costs are taking their toll on consumers. Students at Ohio State's Center for Automotive Research are seeking to improve automotive options for consumers through their work in the Challenge X competition. On Wednesday (5/24), the Ohio State team will unveil their Challenge X vehicle and host a ride and drive event to provide an overview of the team's accomplishments as well as their future goals, prior to their 2006 vehicle competition. The event will be held from 3 to 5 p.m. at the center, 930 Kinnear Road. Ohio State is one of North American 17 universities to compete in the Challenge X program, now in its second year. "Challenge X: Crossover to Sustainable Mobility" is a competition series created by automotive industry, government and academic partners that challenges university-level engineering students to decrease total cycle emissions and energy consumption in a crossover vehicle, while maintaining or exceeding vehicle utility and performance. Ohio State's Challenge X team and vehicle will travel to Arizona the last week in May for the 2006 Challenge X competition. CONTACT: Azher Salikuddin, (513) 265-4088; http://www.osuchallengex.com.

Proposal to develop OSU Center for Sport, Citizenship, and Society ? May 24. Efforts to develop a Center for Sport, Citizenship, and Society at Ohio State will be the focus of a town hall meeting from 3:30 to 5 p.m. on Wednesday (5/24) at the John Glenn Institute for Public Service and Public Policy, 1810 College Road. Officials will seek input on prospective research, educational programs, and outreach opportunities of the center. The Glenn Institute is working to develop a center to examine the links between sport, citizenship, and society. William Morgan, professor in the School of Physical Activity and Education Services, directs the Sport & Leadership Initiative, which was organized to work toward center establishment. CONTACT: Kathy Hill, (614) 292-4545 or hill.358@osu.edu

Ohio State ROTC cadets and midshipmen march in military parade ? May 25. The recently revived Ohio State tradition of a military Pass-in-Review parade will be held on the Oval for the first time since 1967. Several hundred Ohio State student members of the Army, Navy, Marines and Air Force Reserve Officer Training Corps will march in full dress uniform in the 2006 Tri-Service Parade at 3 p.m. Thursday (5/25) on the Oval. The Pass-in-Review, where ROTC cadets march past the presiding or reviewing officer or dignitary is usually held at Coffey Field on west campus. CONTACT: Lieutenant Colonel Todd Miller, Army ROTC, (614) 292-6075, miller.3925@osu.edu

Photo opportunity: Student-engineered robots put to the test cleaning chemical spill ? May 25. St. John Arena will be transformed into a chemical plant on Thursday (5/25) complete with robots ready to clean up simulated spills. Nearly 200 first-year students ? 49 teams ? in the College of Engineering will enter robots they designed in a competition to simulate a chemical spill cleanup from 4 to 5:30 p.m. Thursday (5/25) at St. John Arena, 410 Woody Hayes Drive. The students will set their robots in motion around a specially-built, 12- by 12-foot course with instructions to navigate the chemical manufacturing facility, determine whether the chemical being used in the plant is an acid or a base, determine the location of a spill, disable the pumps causing the leak and clean the spilled material from the plant floor, all within a 2-minute time limit. CONTACT: Joan Slattery Wall, (614) 292-4064, wall.107@osu.edu, or John Demel, First-Year Engineering Program, (614) 202-2427 or demel.1@osu.edu.

Photo opportunity: thousands of donated books readied to ship to hurricane-affected region ? May 26. The 70 students of OSU Kid Corps, who work with local at-risk preschoolers to help them gain critical school readiness skills, have spent the last five months collecting boxes upon boxes of children's books for hurricane-affected regions as well as for youth programs with few books here in central Ohio. OSU Kid Corps manage this book drive completely, a project of the College of Human Ecology. They were inspired by their work in classrooms with few books. On Friday (5/26), between 12-1 p.m., the students will be sorting and packing the many books in Room 341 Ramseyer Hall, 29 West Woodruff Avenue. CONTACT: Aaron Robertson, OSU Kid Corps Program Manager, (614) 292-5138 or robertson.150@osu.edu

The person listed as the CONTACT will have the most current information about the story. Call on our media relations staff for help with any Ohio State story: Liz Cook, (614) 292-7276 or cook.17@osu.edu, Shelly Hoffman, (614) 247-4748 or hoffman.511@osu.edu, Jim Lynch, (614) 247-4110 or lynch.270@osu.edu, or Amy Murray, (614) 292-8385 or murray-goedde.1@osu.edu